Me
RUTGERS
THE STATE UNIVERSITY
OF NEW JERSEY
ANTHROPOLOGY
LIVINGSTON COLLEGE + GRADUATE PROGRAM IN
NEW BRUNSWICK e NEW JERSEY 08903+ 201/932-2508
June 24, 1980
Mr. Cliff Sloan
Office of Rep. Sidney R. Yates
2234 Bayburn House Office Building
Weshington, D.C. 20515
Dear Cliff:
I an writing this letter as a follow-up to our meeting of April
14th, and also to bring you up to date on some points concerning the
Marshall Islands and the Mewetak resettlement. By now I am certain
of your growing bewilderment in these matters due to the many, and
often contradictory, reports your Office receives relating to the
Marshalls.
I mst say that you have my sympathies in attempting to
untangle this "nuclear quagmire," and hope this correspondence will
be of some help in your attempt to understand the myriad complexities
in the Marshall Islands.
I should like to say at the outset that I have always favored
prudence and caution when dealing with problems associated with
radiation in the Marshalls, and the entire history of the United
States' testing program bespeaks the need for very careful analysis
and consideration of all relevant factors effecting the well-being
of the Marshallese.
A case in point is the current dilemma facing
the Imewetak Islanders, and particularly the people of Injebi, who
ere understandably anxious to return to their ancestral island after
living in exile for thirty-three years.
It is my sincere feeling that the people of Injebi should be
allowed to retur to their home island, but only on the condition
that it is “safe* for them to return. I use quotations around the
word “sefe* because the whole question of Enjebi revolves around the
Meaning end interpretation of what constitutes “safe."
As you are
Well-awere, this notion of what constitutes a "safe" level of radiation
is one of the most hotly-debated issues in the nuclear field, and it
1s nearly impossible to find two reputable radiation experts who will
agree about a “safe* level of radiation.
In the following paragraphs, I would like to briefly outline some
major points which I think are relevant to the Enjebi question, and
I would like to reiterate my esrlier request for truly independent
radietion experts in the Marshall Islands in order to prevent further
conflicts of interest regarding the interpretation of radiological
dete in the Marshells.
If independent radiation experts prolong the
njebi resettlement for an additional six months or so, then so be itl
~ix more nonths is a short time in relation to the thirty-three years